Efficient way of creating a PDF Form

What is JotForm?

JotForm is a freeonline form builder which helps you create online forms without writing a single line of code.

At JotForm, we want to make sure that you’re getting the online form builder help that you need. Our friendly customer support team is available 24/7.

We believe that if one user has a question, there could be more users who may have the same question. This is why many of our support forum threads are public and available to be searched and viewed. If you’d like help immediately, feel free to search for a similar question, or submit your question or concern.

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rwaldenjr

Asked on October 26, 2017 at 01:04 AM

I tried creating a PDF version of my form as a faster alternative to creating a form with disabled elements. I tried creating a PDF using the "Create PDF Form" feature ("More" drop-down in the forms list). However, it didn't really create a PDF of my form. It created a new form with similar elements but in a totally different format.

Is there a way to have it create a PDF with my exact same format? Also, is it possible to create a non-fillable PDF "image" of the form?

Our system can never create a PDF that will look exactly like your form. It will only mimic the same fields you have on your form and attempt its best to generate a respective PDF. On top of that, most advanced features like payment fields, widgets, etc. will never carry over to the PDF form generated. These and more were discussed in the detailed article below.

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, unticking "Include submit button" didn't work. The form is still fillable. Is that the only solution?

Also, since JotForm's PDF creator can't do so natively, is there another way to create a more accurate PDF version of our forms, possibly using an app or widget? If not, maybe that could be a development request. The bones of that capability already exist in JotForm. If not, maybe JotForm could partner with a 3rd party company to provide a more robust PDF creator. After all the time and effort it takes to build an effective online form, companies don't want to have to use an alternate (paper) form that doesn't really resemble their online version, and that doesn't even include all the same elements!

JotForm Support

Nik_C

Answered on October 26, 2017 at 01:56 PM

The removing of submit button will make the form unsubmittable. So even if the data is filled the form will not be possible to fill.

Not sure what is the purpose of creating such form?

Regarding the creating of PDF form, it is hard to make the PDF in the same way like live forms, because of the nature of the PDF and how it is created.

I will forward your request to our backend team though for further consideration in regard to the creation of PDF.

Let us know if you have any further questions.

Thank you!

rwaldenjr

Answered on October 26, 2017 at 02:02 PM

Thanks Nik -

The reason I'm trying to either disable the elements of my forms and still have them be viewable, or else create non-fillable replicas of them as PDFs is explained in this related string, "How to disable forms?"

JotForm Support

Jim_R

Answered on October 26, 2017 at 02:43 PM

I see - Looks like you updated that thread right before you posted your reply here. We'll continue the discussion there. For the time being, this thread has been forwarded by Nik to the concerned team as requested.

JotForm Developer

eugene

Answered on October 30, 2018 at 04:26 AM

UPDATE: We are excited to announce that we have just released the new version of JotForm PDF Editor.

It has much-enhanced customization options than before. We will be very glad if you can check out the new fillable PDF form creator and leave us feedback about it.